Orifice Sizing Principles

An orifice meter is a device used for measuring the rate of fluid flow. It uses the same
principle as a Venturi nozzle, namely Bernoulli's principle which says that there is a
relationship between the pressure of the fluid and the velocity of the fluid. When the velocity
increases, the pressure decreases and vice versa.
An orifice plate is basically a thin plate with a hole in the middle. It is usually placed in a
pipe in which fluid flows. As fluid flows through the pipe, it has a certain velocity and a
certain pressure. When the fluid reaches the orifice plate, with the hole in the middle, the
fluid is forced to converge to go through the small hole the point of ma!imum convergence
actually occurs shortly downstream of the physical orifice, at the so"called vena contracta
point #see drawing to the right$. As it does so, the velocity and the pressure changes. Beyond
the vena contracta, the fluid e!pands and the velocity and pressure change once again. By
measuring the difference in fluid pressure between the normal pipe section and at the vena
contracta, the volumetric and mass flow rates can be obtained from Bernoulli's e%uation.
Incompressible flow through an orifice
By assuming steady"state, incompressible #constant fluid density$, inviscid, laminar flow in a
horizontal pipe #no change in elevation$ with negligible frictional losses, Bernoulli's e%uation
reduces to an e%uation relating the conservation of energy between two points on the same
streamline&
or&
By continuity e%uation&
or V
'
( Q ) A
'
and V
*
( Q ) A
*
&
+olving for Q&
and&
,he above e!pression for Q gives the theoretical volume flow rate. Introducing the beta
factor - ( d
*
) d
'
as well as the coefficient of discharge C
d
&
And finally introducing the meter coefficient C which is defined as to
obtain the final e%uation for the volumetric flow of the fluid through the orifice&
.ultiplying by the density of the fluid to obtain the e%uation for the mass flow rate at any
section in the pipe&
/'0/*0/10/20
where&
Q ( volumetric flow rate #at any cross"section$, m3)s
( mass flow rate #at any cross"section$, 4g)s
C
d
( coefficient of discharge, dimensionless
C ( orifice flow coefficient, dimensionless
A
1
( cross"sectional area of the pipe, m5
A
2
( cross"sectional area of the orifice hole, m5
d
1
( diameter of the pipe, m
d
2
( diameter of the orifice hole, m
( ratio of orifice hole diameter to pipe diameter, dimensionless
V
1
( upstream fluid velocity, m)s
V
2
( fluid velocity through the orifice hole, m)s
P
1
( fluid upstream pressure, 6a with dimensions of 4g)#m7s5 $
P
2
( fluid downstream pressure, 6a with dimensions of 4g)#m7s5 $
( fluid density, 4g)m3
8eriving the above e%uations used the cross"section of the orifice opening and is not as
realistic as using the minimum cross"section at the vena contracta. In addition, frictional
losses may not be negligible and viscosity and turbulence effects may be present. 9or that
reason, the coefficient of discharge C
d
is introduced. .ethods e!ist for determining the
coefficient of discharge as a function of the :eynolds number.
/*0
,he parameter is often referred to as the velocity of approach factor
/'0
and dividing
the coefficient of discharge by that parameter #as was done above$ produces the flow
coefficient C. .ethods also e!ist for determining the flow coefficient as a function of the beta
function - and the location of the downstream pressure sensing tap. 9or rough
appro!imations, the flow coefficient may be assumed to be between ;.<; and ;.=>. 9or a first
appro!imation, a flow coefficient of ;.<* can be used as this appro!imates to fully developed
flow.
An orifice only wor4s well when supplied with a fully developed flow profile. ,his is
achieved by a long upstream length #*; to 2; pipe diameters, depending on :eynolds
number$ or the use of a flow conditioner. ?rifice plates are small and ine!pensive but do not
recover the pressure drop as well as a venturi nozzle does. If space permits, a venturi meter is
more efficient than a flowmeter.
9low of gases through an orifice
In general, e%uation #*$ is applicable only for incompressible flows. It can be modified by
introducing the e!pansion factor Y to account for the compressibility of gases.
Y is '.; for incompressible fluids and it can be calculated for compressible gases.
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@alculation of e!pansion factor
,he e!pansion factor Y, which allows for the change in the density of an ideal gas as it
e!pands isentropically, is given by&
/*0
9or values of - less than ;.*>, -
2
approaches ; and the last brac4eted term in the above
e%uation approaches '. ,hus, for the large maAority of orifice plate installations&
where&
Y ( B!pansion factor, dimensionless
r ( P
*
) P
'
k ( specific heat ratio #c
p
) c
v
$, dimensionless
+ubstituting e%uation #2$ into the mass flow rate e%uation #1$&
and&
and thus, the final e%uation for the non"cho4ed #i.e., sub"sonic$ flow of ideal gases through an
orifice for values of - less than ;.*>&
Csing the ideal gas law and the compressibility factor #which corrects for non"ideal gases$, a
practical e%uation is obtained for the non"cho4ed flow of real gases through an orifice for
values of - less than ;.*>&
/10/20/>0
:emembering that and #ideal gas law and the compressibility
factor$
where&
k ( specific heat ratio #c
p
) c
v
$, dimensionless
( mass flow rate at any section, 4g)s
Q
1
( upstream real gas flow rate, m3)s
C ( orifice flow coefficient, dimensionless
A
2
( cross"sectional area of the orifice hole, m5

1
( upstream real gas density, 4g)m3
P
1
( upstream gas pressure, 6a with dimensions of 4g)#m7s5$
P
2
( downstream pressure, 6a with dimensions of 4g)#m7s5$
M ( the gas molecular mass, 4g)mol #also 4nown as the molecular weight$
R ( the Cniversal Das Eaw @onstant ( F.1'2> G)#mol7H$
T
1
( absolute upstream gas temperature, H
Z ( the gas compressibility factor at P
'
and T
'
, dimensionless
A detailed e!planation of cho4ed and non"cho4ed flow of gases, as well as the e%uation for
the cho4ed flow of gases through restriction orifices, is available at @ho4ed flow.
,he flow of real gases through thin"plate orifices never becomes fully cho4ed. ,he mass flow
rate through the orifice continues to increase as the downstream pressure is lowered to a
perfect vacuum, though the mass flow rate increases slowly as the downstream pressure is
reduced below the critical pressure.
/<0
I@unningham #'J>'$ first drew attention to the fact that
cho4ed flow will not occur across a standard, thin, s%uare"edged orifice.I
/=0
6ermanent pressure drop for incompressible fluids
9or a s%uare"edge orifice plate with flange taps
/F0
&
where&
KP
p
( permanent pressure drop
KP
i
( indicated pressure drop at the flange taps
- ( d
*
) d
'
And rearranging the formula near the top of this article&
Choked fow
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Jump to: navigation, search
Choked flow is a compressible flow effect. ,he parameter that becomes Icho4edI or
IlimitedI is the fluid velocity.
@ho4ed flow is a fluid dynamic condition associated with the Venturi effect. When a flowing
fluid at a given pressure and temperature passes through a restriction #such as the throat of a
convergent"divergent nozzle or a valve in a pipe$ into a lower pressure environment the fluid
velocity increases. At initially subsonic upstream conditions, the conservation of mass
principle re%uires the fluid velocity to increase as it flows through the smaller cross"sectional
area of the restriction. At the same time, the Venturi effect causes the static pressure, and
therefore the density, to decrease downstream past the restriction. Choked flow is a limiting
condition which occurs when the mass flow rate will not increase with a further decrease in
the downstream pressure environment while upstream pressure is fi!ed.
9or homogeneous fluids, the physical point at which the cho4ing occurs for adiabatic
conditions is when the e!it plane velocity is at sonic conditions or at a .ach number of '.
/'0/*0
/10
At cho4ed flow the mass flow rate can be increased by increasing density upstream of the
cho4e point.
,he cho4ed flow of gases is useful in many engineering applications because the mass flow
rate is independent of the downstream pressure, depending only on the temperature and
pressure on the upstream side of the restriction. Cnder cho4ed conditions, valves and
calibrated orifice plates can be used to produce a desired mass flow rate.
Contents
[hide]
1 Choked fo in li!uids
" #ass fo rate of a gas at choked conditions
o "$1 Choking in change of cross section fo
% &eal gas e'ects
( )hin*plate ori+ces
, #inimum pressure ratio re!uired for choked fo to occur
o ,$1 -acuum conditions
. /ee also
0 &eferences
1 23ternal links
Choked flow in liquids[edit]
If the fluid is a li%uid, a different type of limiting condition #also 4nown as cho4ed flow$
occurs when the Venturi effect acting on the li%uid flow through the restriction decreases the
li%uid pressure to below that of the li%uid vapor pressure at the prevailing li%uid temperature.
At that point, the li%uid will partially flash into bubbles of vapor and the subse%uent collapse
of the bubbles causes cavitation. @avitation is %uite noisy and can be sufficiently violent to
physically damage valves, pipes and associated e%uipment. In effect, the vapor bubble
formation in the restriction limits the flow from increasing any further.
/20/>0
Mass flow rate of a gas at choked conditions[edit]
All gases flow from upstream higher pressure sources to downstream lower pressure sources.
,here are several situations in which cho4ed flow occurs, such as the change of cross section
in a de Eaval nozzle or flow through an orifice plate.
Choking in change of cross section fow[edit]
Assuming ideal gas behaviour, steady"state cho4ed flow occurs when downstream pressure
falls below a critical value . ,hat critical value can be calculated from the dimensionless
critical pressure ratio e%uation
/<0
,
where is the heat capacity ratio of the gas #also called the adiabatic inde!, also
sometimes denoted $ and is the upstream pressure.
9or air with a heat capacity ratio , then other gases have in the
range '.;J #e.g. butane$ to '.<= #monatomic gases$, so the critical pressure ratio varies in the
range , which means that, depending on the gas, cho4ed flow
usually occurs when the downstream static pressure drops to below ;.2F= to ;.>F= times the
absolute pressure in stagnant upstream source vessel.
When the gas velocity is cho4ed, the e%uation for the mass flow rate in +I metric units is&
/'0/*0
/10
Wher
e:

4 mass fo rate, in kg5s
4 discharge coe6cient, dimensionless
4 discharge hole cross*sectional area, in m7
4 of the gas
4 speci+c heat of the gas at constant pressure
4 speci+c heat of the gas at constant volume
4 real gas 8total9 density at total pressure and total
temperature , in kg5m:
4 a;solute upstream total pressure of the gas, in <a
4 a;solute upstream total temperature of the gas, in =
,he mass flow rate is primarily dependent on the cross"sectional area of the hole and the
upstream pressure , and only wea4ly dependent on the temperature . ,he rate does not
depend on the downstream pressure at all. All other terms are constants that depend only on
the composition of the material in the flow. Although the gas velocity reaches a maximum
and becomes choked, the mass flo rate is not choked. ,he mass flow rate can still be
increased if the upstream pressure is increased as this increases the density of the gas entering
the orifice.
,he value of can be calculated using the below e!pression&
Wher
e:

4 >ischarge Coe6cient through the constriction 8dimensionless9
4 Cross*sectional area of fo constriction 8unit length s!uared9
4 #ass fo rate of fuid through constriction 8unit mass of fuid per unit
time9
4 ?ravitational constant 8dimensionless9 2ditors: there is no ay this is
correct$ 8@9 )he gravitational constant is not dimensionless 8you can click
the link to con+rm this9, and 8A9 there is no conceiva;le physical
mechanism here;y this e3pression could depend on it$
4 >ensity of fuid 8unit mass per unit volume9
4 <ressure drop across constriction 8unit force per unit area9
,he above e%uations calculate the steady state mass flow rate for the pressure and
temperature e!isting in the upstream pressure source.
If the gas is being released from a closed high"pressure vessel, the above steady state
e%uations may be used to appro!imate the initial mass flow rate. +ubse%uently, the mass flow
rate will decrease during the discharge as the source vessel empties and the pressure in the
vessel decreases. @alculating the flow rate versus time since the initiation of the discharge is
much more complicated, but more accurate. ,wo e%uivalent methods for performing such
calculations are e!plained and compared online.
/=0
,he technical literature can be very confusing because many authors fail to e!plain whether
they are using the universal gas law constant : which applies to any ideal gas or whether they
are using the gas law constant :
s
which only applies to a specific individual gas. ,he
relationship between the two constants is :
s
( : ) . where . is the molecular weight of the
gas.
Real gas effects[edit]
If the upstream conditions are such that the gas cannot be treated as ideal, there is no closed
form e%uation for evaluating the cho4ed mass flow. Instead, the gas e!pansion should be
calculated by reference to real gas property tables, where the e!pansion ta4es place at
constant entropy.
Thinplate orifices[edit]
,he flow of real gases through thin"plate orifices never becomes fully cho4ed. ,he mass flow
rate through the orifice continues to increase as the downstream pressure is lowered to a
perfect vacuum, though the mass flow rate increases slowly as the downstream pressure is
reduced below the critical pressure.
/F0
@unningham #'J>'$ first drew attention to the fact that
cho4ed flow will not occur across a standard, thin, s%uare"edged orifice.
/J0/';0/''0
Minimum pressure ratio required for choked flow to
occur[edit]
,he minimum pressure ratios re%uired for cho4ed conditions to occur #when some typical
industrial gases are flowing$ are presented in ,able '. ,he ratios were obtained using the
criterion that cho4ed flow occurs when the ratio of the absolute upstream pressure to the
absolute downstream pressure is e%ual to or greater than [ !"#k $ %& ]
-k"#k ' %&
, where 4 is the
specific heat ratio of the gas. ,he minimum pressure ratio may be understood as the ratio
between the upstream pressure and the pressure at the nozzle throat when the gas is traveling
at .ach ' if the upstream pressure is too low compared to the downstream pressure, sonic
flow cannot occur at the throat.
)a;le 1
Gas k = c
p
/c
v

Minimum
P
u
/P
d
required
for
choked
fow
>ry @ir
1$(BB at
"BCC
1$1D%
Eitrogen
1$(B( at
1,CC
F3ygen
1$(BB at
"BCC
1$1D%
Gelium
1$..B at
"BCC
"$B(D
Gydrogen
1$(1B at
"BCC
1$1DD
#ethane 1$%B0 1$1%0
<ropane 1$1%1 1$0"D
Autane 1$BD. 1$0B1
@mmonia
1$%1B at
1,CC
1$1%1
Chlorine 1$%,, 1$1..
/ulfur dio3ide
1$"DB at
1,CC
1$1".
Car;on
mono3ide
1$(B( 1$1D,
Lotes&
<
u
4 a;solute upstream gas pressure
<
d
4 a;solute donstream gas pressure
k values o;tained from:
1$ <erry, &o;ert G$ and ?reen, >on W$ 81D1(9$ Perry's Chemical
Engineers' Handbook, Table 2-166, 8.th 2dition ed$9$ #c?ra*Gill
Company$ H/AE B*B0*B(D(0D*0$
"$ <hillips <etroleum Company 81D."9$ Reference Daa !or
Hydrocarbons "nd Pero-#$lf$r Com%o$nds 8/econd <rinting ed$9$
<hillips <etroleum Company$
Vacuum conditions[edit]
In the case of upstream air pressure at atmospheric pressure and vacuum conditions
downstream of an orifice, both the air velocity and the mass flow rate becomes cho4ed or
limited when sonic velocity is reached through the orifice.